Benhin James K A
Center for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Ambio. 2006 Feb;35(1):9-16.
Despite the important role that tropical forests play in human existence, their depletion, especially in the developing world, continue relentlessly. Agriculture has been cited as the major cause of this depletion. This paper discusses two main theoretical underpinnings for the role of agriculture in tropical deforestation. First, the forest biomass as input in agricultural production, and second, the competition between agriculture and forestry underlined by their relative marginal benefits. These are supported by empirical evidence from selected countries in Africa and South America. The paper suggests a need to find a win-win situation to control the spate of tropical deforestation. This may imply improved technologies in the agriculture sector in the developing world, which would lead both to increased production in the agriculture sector, and would also help control the use of tropical forest as an input in agriculture production.
尽管热带森林在人类生存中发挥着重要作用，但它们仍在持续不断地遭到破坏，尤其是在发展中世界。农业被认为是造成这种破坏的主要原因。本文讨论了农业在热带森林砍伐中所起作用的两个主要理论基础。第一，森林生物量作为农业生产的投入；第二，农业和林业之间的竞争，这种竞争由它们相对的边际效益所凸显。非洲和南美洲一些选定国家的经验证据支持了这些观点。本文建议需要找到一种双赢局面来控制热带森林砍伐的激增。这可能意味着发展中世界农业部门技术的改进，这将既能提高农业部门的产量，又有助于控制将热带森林用作农业生产投入的情况。
